So I have been in Egypt for a week now and I just have to say, this is the craziest place I have ever been. I was ready for some culture shock but I don't think it was possible to prepare for just how different it is over here. Crappy food, loud people, honking cars, and poverty everywhere. The other thing that is weird to deal with is how the terrible condition of the country is balanced with the amazing sightseeing. There are some of the most famous ancient sights in the world and they are nestled in with some of the worst slums i have ever seen...either way, i just wanted to recap my feelings on the first week. here is week 2...enjoy.
WEEK 2:
Thursday:
Wake up in Aswan at 6am…boo!, breakfast, pack up, get on the bus and head out for Luxor with a few stops along the way. The road we are traveling on is very dangerous so we have a police escort the whole way. Also, this escort only allows for us to have a certain amount of time at each place we stop at, which makes it annoying because we end up doing what I like to call "speed tourism"…We arrive at our first stop along the way after traveling through the impoverished farmlands of the Nile river valley. It is called the Kom-Ombo Temple. An ancient Temple very similar to the Philae Temple from yesterday. Huge pillars everywhere, with walls full of beautiful carvings and hieroglyphics. It was unbelievable to see all of this, so unbelievable that it was almost too much. It felt weird to be looking at these ancient ruins, of which I didn’t really understand the history behind…But, we get a nice history lesson from our tour guide which helped…We are then allowed about 10 minutes to check it out ourselves...kind of annoying because I would have liked to walk around a little more and really take it in…oh well. Back on the bus and another hour or so later we get to our next stop, The Edfu Temple…And again, it is very similar to the previous Temples we have seen. You first see the huge buildings from far away, and then you get to the court yard where there are massive hieroglyphics. Enter the Temple, massive pillars everywhere, and hieroglyphics still everywhere. Very stunning, although I didn’t understand the significance really, it was still breathtaking. Another history lesson and we allowed another 5-10 minutes. A bunch of us stayed a little longer than they allowed and when we got back to the bus, Dr. Sullivan wasn’t too happy…oh well. Another hour or so and we get to Luxor. Great hotel, with another pool…super pumped. We go walk around town and try to find food, Sean and I have a semi panic attack because we couldn’t find anything and then all of a sudden we found a pizza place, and went in and got some grub…not great, but cheap and I was starving…back to the hotel, hit the pool, which is on a floating barge on the Nile, very nice view yet again. Got out and read for an hour or so, the book is actually getting a little better. Quick dip before I head out, end up smacking my forehead on the bottom of the pool while trying to do a flip-turn…idiot…up to the room, read a little more, and then out to dinner with a big group of us. We found a ridiculously cheap place; I got a beer (500ml beers here) and a cheeseburger for 21 pounds which is about 4 dollars American. We had a good time at dinner, talking about funny hometown stories, etc etc. We asked the waiter if he could put on the wooh wooh song, and he ended up finding it and he played it for us. The girls then started dancing, and some of the little kids of the restaurant owner started dancing with them…the guys stayed at the table and hung out…classic. After dinner, we bought some water for the following days excursions. Back to the hotel, watched Dodgeball for a little and then passed out with a 5:30AM wake up call coming up fast…lots of sight seeing tomorrow…
Peace
-Al
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